Crime & Safety
Frontenac Police Warn of Fake Home Repair, Cleaning Services
Ladue police are warning residents to beware of a number of tactics being used to scam and steal from residents.
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The following alert was issued by the Frontenac Police Department in an email to city residents.
Beware of fake home repair / cleaning services ! If you have elderly parents or relatives that occasionally hire outside help to do work at their home, please talk with them about the proper ways to engage these services. Reputable businesses will have websites and phone listings, and will usually have information available on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website – even if the business is not a member of the BBB. Good businesses will provide references and other contacts for you to verify their past work in the area.
Scammers will try many tricks to get your confidence quickly so that they can gain entry to your home and take what they can. We’ve mentioned the fake water company subjects who ask the homeowner to test their faucets, then the female victim gets sprayed on her hand with a substance that was allegedly used to test the water. The thief tells her to remove her rings immediately and go to another faucet to wash the supposedly caustic substance off of her hands – and then he takes the rings and leaves.
Another ruse is to offer low-rate home repairs, and have the homeowner walk around the house with the fake contractor while the accomplice rummages through the house. Sometimes the scammers will perform some shoddy work, such as putting used motor oil on a driveway while telling the homeowner that it is a high quality asphalt sealer – and charging a lot of money for it. Remember, if these subjects do perform some work at your home and they are not insured, and get injured, you may be facing a civil liability.
Bottom line – Our seniors are most often trusting and helpful to others, and it is up to us to ensure that they do not become victims of such scams. If they don’t have access to the Internet to check the BBB website athttp://stlouis.bbb.org/ , have them call you so that you can help them screen the potential contractor. If the alleged contractor is on-site and high-pressuring the homeowner and/or trying to gain access to the house, please have them call the Police Department at 314-737-4600, or 9-1-1 if urgent, and we will respond to help resolve the situation.
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